No, that’s not what we were expecting for the Animal Farm game, either.
Tycoon games. You can create an almost unlimited number of management sims, just by slapping a noun in front of the word ‘tycoon’. Observe:
- RollerCoaster Tycoon
- Transport Tycoon
- Railroad Tycoon
- Airline Tycoon
- Aircraft Tycoon
- Zoo Tycoon
- Mall Tycoon
OK, so those are some of the games you’re probably familiar with. Next up, some of the more obscure business management sims:
- Fish Tycoon
- Tabloid Tycoon
- Lemonade Tycoon
- Plant Tycoon
- Ski Park Tycoon
- World Basketball Manager Tycoon
- Toilet Tycoon
- Rec Center Tycoon
- Porno Studio Tycoon
I could go on, but it’s pretty stupid. But potentially the most ridiculous of them all? Animal Farm (Tycoon).
We were excited when the impending Animal Farm game was teased by Bossa Studios founder, Imre Jele, on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. It has the official backing of the estate of George Orwell, for one thing, so we were hopeful that it would be a tasteful and clever interpretation of his seminal work.
And being completely honest, we had no bloody idea what form that could take. We had a chat around the office, and nobody had any idea what the Animal Farm game was likely to be, but none of us predicted a tycoon game.
The Animal Farm game will be an adventure-tycoon, placing the player in the Manor Farm as one of the animals just before the revolution, and will follow their journey through the ups and downs of Animalism. The gameplay will combine story choices and the running of the farm into a consistent narrative, giving players a chance to experience the consequences of their decisions first hand.
There’s a certain connection between the themes running through Animal Farm (the book) and the rampant, expansionist capitalism on show in tycoon games, but it definitely feels odd to mash the two together.
Still, it’s got a hell of a crew assembled to work on it:
- Imre Jele
- Andy Payne
- Georg Backer
- Jessica Curry
- Kate Saxon
So there’s hope for the Animal Farm game yet.
